Martin Van Buren

Van Buren, Martin(b. Dec. 5, 1782 d. July 24, 1862), eighth president of the United States, who in his last months in office tried and failed to push a bill through Congress that would have required all Americans to immediately forget his presidency ever happened. By far his most significant initiative, the Presidential Non-Remembrance Act of 1841 would have compelled all citizens to flush from their minds any recollection of what occurred while he was in office, including the Panic of 1837, record unemployment, bank failures, the continuation of the Trail of Tears, and his unyielding tolerance of slavery. The bill was roundly defeated despite token compromise provisions that would have allowed people to remember Van Buren’s appointment of John McKinley and Peter Vivian Daniel to the Supreme Court.